Cold Hands, Warm Hearts
by JashinsPriestess42
Summary: The Winter Soldier was sent to kill her, he made a different call. Now he has a devoted partner, equally as dangerous, will no real loyalty but to the man who saved her life . . . or at least saved her from endless torture.


Title: Cold Hands, Warm Hearts (will probably change...any suggestions?)

Author: JashinsPriestess42

Rating: T (for now)

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the Marvel franchise, I do not own. OCs and plot however...

Summary: The Winter Soldier was sent to kill her, he made a different call

Warnings: Language, sexual references, death, torture, violence, fighting, Avengers stuff, Russian stuff . . . _stuff _stuff

A/N: Little plot bunny that decided to breed at 11:17 PM

_Thoughts, flashbacks or emphasis_

**_Speaking in Russian_**

* * *

Introduction

_"She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, a tiny, bloody angel in the snow, and they were going to destroy her."  
― Maggie Stiefvater, Shiver_

The streetlights were misty in the light snowfall, casting an eerie glow over the barren street. The milky moon only a barely-glimpsed sliver the cloudy night sky. Black ice and thick snow smothered the sidewalks and streets, deterring any pedestrian from travel.

Only one figure was foolish enough to journey in the slums of Saint Petersburg that night, their heavy boots sending hairline fractures across the layer of ice on the path. As the figure moved through the hazy halos of light cast from the streetlights, defining features were made clear: functional yet fashionable black knee-high boots, a dove-grey pea coat with a thick fur lining, a clunky black messenger bag slung loosely over one shoulder, and locks of dark colored hair bleached to an unattractive grey from the poor lighting.

A puff of white escaped the newly identified woman's chapped lips as she trudged forwards through the walls of snow, the quiet cracks of ice underfoot and soft puffs of air her only companions as she journeyed home, eager for a warm shower, hot coffee, and cigarette.

This mattered not however, when a single shot rang out, shattering the quiet of the night; the woman dropped face-first into the snow, blood quickly staining the virgin ground sanguine.

A heart beat later and a muscular man is jumping down from a nearby building to crouch beside her, a quick check of the woman's pulse confirming the kill. He begins the standard process of checking the body for any hidden surprises, beginning at the feet, but when the man reaches her knee he stops.

His eyes sharpened as he caught sight of a rash of frostbite fanning from the woman's knee up along her thigh, the man gently pushed up her thick pea coat to expose more damaged skin. He paused before moving the garment higher, his hand now tracing the discoloration close to her inner thigh.

**_"Most people would regard your actions as indecent sir."_**

The man was on his feet with his handgun trained on her in 0.82 seconds. The woman made to rise and a bullet was shot through her head. She collapsed.

He trained all his senses onto the unmoving body; it was a minute later when his ears heard it.

A sharp inhale, the startled thundering of a heartbeat, and the sickening crack of a broken bone being realigned.

The man stared, he had just shot his target twice in the head, no one could survive that. But, there it was, irrefutably right in front of his eyes.

The woman was sitting up, trembling violently, panting hard as she rubbed her still bleeding head.

**_"Headshots are a pain you know, can't we just tal-"_**

He grabbed her by the side of the head, and crushed the woman's skull against the icy ground.

The man felt her head crumple beneath his fingers. Saw the blood that splashed across the sidewalk in a macabre display. Heard her heart stop beating.

He let the body drop and then settled back to observe.

And, the man was not left waiting, or disappointed, for very long. He heard the sound of bone grating first, then saw the woman's hair shift without a breeze as bone shards realigned beneath her scalp. Finally, she breathed in, and her heart started again. The man watched intently as the woman curled up on herself with a groan of pain, the trembling ever so slight until she was shuddering with what had to be rather painful muscle-tremors.

**_"Ugh..."_** she groaned as the tremors subsided and she was able to begin to uncurl.

The man pulled his trusty knife from his boot and promptly thrust it through the woman's back, angling it directly into her heart – he even twisted the blade to make sure. It stopped beating and the young woman wasn't even able to cry out in pain or surprise before her lungs filled with blood.

Again, the man sat back to watch.

It was faster this time. Whether because of the location, or the lack of broken bones, he didn't know. But two minutes after the stabbing, the woman was gagging and spitting up blood. Rolling away from where the man was crouched watching her, his bloody knife in hand.

**_"Would you please stop that?"_** she demanded, coughing blood and spitting it to the side as she pressed her back against the light post behind her. **_"It doesn't matter what you do, I'm not going to stay dead!" _**she snapped, watching him with narrowed, wary, grey eyes.

The man stared, tapping his knife against his mildly blood-splattered pants in thought. From what he had seen, this was very true. However, **_"What if I were to completely remove your head and take it elsewhere?"_** he asked neutrally.

**_"Even then,"_** she admitted bitterly. **_"I may not be able to move or do much, but somehow my head and my body always end up reunited. It's caused me more than enough trouble, thank you very much. So I'd rather you not attempt to do it either. It's very annoying having to reattach my spine!"_**

Well this made his hit more interesting, what to do with a target that won't stay dead?

**_"Woman"_** her posture stiffened as she met and held his stern stare, **_"The organization will continue their attempts to eliminate you. You will rot away in a high-security vault if you ever leave the labs. How would you like a second option?"_**

She continued the stare down for a few more seconds before inclining her head gently.

The man quickly stabbed a needle into her neck, injecting her with enough tranquilizers to send a charging rhino into sleepy heaven before binding her hands and feet and slinging her none-too-gently over his shoulder.

As her carried her down the street, the lamplights shone off his metallic left arm and the red star emblazoned on it.


End file.
